The air was still and most comfortable as twelve of us were inside our Toronto ashram, when two chubby raccoons were milling around looking for food. By the time we got outside, loading our vehicle with weekend backpacks, destined for West Virginia, we saw a coyote racing down our street. He was on a similar program as the chubby ones – where is the food?
Generally, you find hungry gatherers and hunters busy in the dark but our purpose in being up so early, 4:45 am, was for yoga and a journey,
Disagreement over issues is not as disruptive as disagreement over the importance of the disagreements
When we see disruptive disagreements among friends who share our faith, we feel distressed. Why? Because we practice our faith to experience peace, not strife. Indeed, the specter of religious conflicts drives fence-sitters towards agnosticism, atheism or even anti-theism.
Why do such disruptions occur? Not because of the disagreements themselves; we can live with disagreements, and we often
Sometimes we see that on the ocean there is a big disaster. There is an oil tank that has had a big spill, and then the whole water surface becomes covered by oil. What happens then is that all the animals that are on the surface of the water, like birds, are getting a very bad reaction. But the animals that are deep in the water remain largely unaffected. It is on the surface that the reaction from the oil spill is happening. Similarly, in the process of bhakti, the kanistha adhikari (the neo
From Nityananda prabhu, Dallas TP:
Hare Krishna!!
Mrs Nayantara Jindal, the sister of the late husband of Sally Agarwal, who Srila Prabhupada stayed with when he first arrived into the US in 1965 called and spoke with me.
She asked that we pray for Sally Agarwal as she is leaving her body.
I said I will also convey the message to you all so we will all pray.
I also offered any service(s) they may possibly want of us.
Thank you so very much!!
Your servants’ humble servant,
Nityananda dasa
Sourc
Hare Krishna
Dandavat pranam
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
We are happy to inform you about this moment that On the occasion of the Nepal’s Constitution day, The Government of Nepal conferred upon His Grace Patri Prabhu, Co-Regional Secretary of ISKCON Nepal and Honorable Chairman of ISKCON Nepal affiliates (Food for Life Nepal, Bhaktivedanta Hospital, Bhaktivedanta Gurukula & Pathsala, and IRO) the prestigious “Suprabal Janasewa Shree” award.
ISKCON Nepal family would like to express its war
By Mahamaya Devi Dasi
The 8th annual Orlando Rathayatra was held on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at very unique location of the campus of the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida.
The Rathayatra took over the beautiful UCF campus and despite it being a weekday, a good number of devotees were present as well as many UCF students. Devotees and well-wishers pulled Lord Jagannath’s cart through the streets, led by a campus police car. Passersby were drawn to the procession by the
𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗸𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗻𝗮,
🙏𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗼𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀.
🙏All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
🙏All Glories to Sri Mayapur Dham!
𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 🙏🙏 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐮 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐚 🐄, 𝐓𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐢 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐏𝐮𝐣𝐚 to Lord Narasimhadeva, 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐧 🪔 𝐭𝐨 all deities are being offered 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬
Other topics on the agenda at MANtra 2022 were “The Art of Meaningful Association,” “Chasing the Wild Monkeys: Lust, Addiction and the Power of Healing Association,” “Flourishing as a Father” and “Compassion as a Man.” Also on the list was our drama “Demon,” as part of the entertainment section including beautiful chanting by Gaura Vani in the evening.
Singing also resounded outside with millions of crickets at the relatively quiet hours of our morning when a group of us went zoom zoom around t
By Srila Prabhupada
There is nothing in the world with which the Lord is disconnected. The only thing we must learn is to excavate the source of connection and thus be linked with Him by offenseless service. We can be connected with Him by the transcendental sound representation of the Lord. The Holy Name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are identical, and one who chants the Holy Name of the Lord in an offenseless manner can at once realize that the Lord is present before him. Even by the vibra
It was with great satisfaction that I conducted a Kirtan Standards course along with the Bhakti Academy students. The feedback that I received from this three hour interactive workshop/presentation were words like “informative,” “educational” and “clarification on things.” It was felt that before these students develop some habits regarding Kirtan (chanting) that fall in the realm of divergent, why not get it right in the beginning?
It was the founder-acarya of the movement, Prabhupada, who est
Faith is the unflinching confidence that upon attaining one thing — Krsna-bhakti — one is provided with all other desirable achievements. Absolute faith, unflinching faith, rests in Krsna-bhakti only. Faith in any other result or any other process will be unavoidably transient and ultimately disappointing. Attaining this faith rests upon guru-kripa, which includes very careful guidance and training. Similarly, one cannot move forward on this path while holding tightly to a bodily or a material
From Back to Godhead
What do the Bhagavatam and Srila Prabhupada have to say about these universal concepts?
At the beginning of his first book, Easy Journey to Other Planets, Srila Prabhupada writes, “Dedicated to the scientists of the world.” Perhaps it was Lord Krishna’s special plan that Srila Prabhupada’s first book be related to science, and space in particular. By this dedication, Srila Prabhupada is inviting scientists and any inquisitive thoughtful people to explore the science in the
Westerners, in general, take too much for granted and are not careful enough in social dealings.
Modern Western society conditions one to artificially come too close, too soon without respect for one another.
Modern Western society respects nothing beyond fame, money and sexual prowess; it is the antithesis of Vaishnava culture.
Prematurely judging others and jumping to conclusions are other negative traits found almost everywhere, which most of us must admit. These traits, born of the mode of
Our spiritual practice should nourish us, it should supply us with a taste that is better than the taste that material activities and sense gratification provide us with. When our spiritual practice lacks this taste, the temptation of material life which then allures us with a seemingly greater taste is always close to us. And at that time we are in danger. However, if we can find taste in our spiritual practice we are safe on the spiritual platform.
The chanting of the Holy Names is recommende
By Mahavrata Devi Dasi
Nigerian devotees were excited to perform the annual World Holy Name week which started on the 17th of September. Devotees all over Nigeria were seen chanting on the streets, distributing Prabhupada books and singing to the glory of the Lord as chanting enters day 3.
By Mahatma Das
There is something I’ve noticed about my japa over the years: Bad habits don’t die easily. Prabhupada said chanting produces more chanting. But the question is what kind of “more chanting” does it produce? My experience is that bad chanting produces more bad chanting. And if the bad chanting goes on long enough, it pretty much becomes a habit. Then bad becomes the norm.
Since bad chanting is not relishable, japa tends to take less of a priority in life. It becomes harder to finis
By Bharata Das
The first ever Rathyatra in California’s Capital City of Sacramento took place on September 18, 2022. This is the only Rathyatra in the world where Lord Jagannath made the very special gesture of giving darshan to hundreds of jeevas right at the front door of the State Capitol. It took a long time to bring Rathyatra to the capital of the most prosperous and progressive state in the United States. Srila Prabhupada and many devotees traveled all the way from the ISKCON Berkeley te
By Satyaraja Dasa
Most systems of Indian philosophy endorse the notion that, in some sense, all living beings are one with God. Some would say that spiritual philosophy in general – East and West – is based on the premise of oneness, suggesting an ontological unity for
all that is. The reasoning is straightforward: Since everything emanates from God, and since God is absolute, then His emanations partake of His essential nature, even if they exist in temporary forgetfulness.* Thus, ultimate spir
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaja is one of the senior disciples of His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, founder acharya of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He holds a BA Degree in Oriental fine arts history from the University of British Colombia. He joined the Hare Krishna movement in India in 1970. Initiated in 1971 by Srila Prabhupada, he took sannyasa vows in 1984. Bhanu Swami was personally instructed in the art of Deity worship by Srila Prabhupada,
The Bhagavad-gita teaches, “O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” Gita 2.14
There are many emotions we feel throughout the day; sadness is one of them. It often sweeps across us like grey clouds on an otherwise bright day. It may be trigge
